diff --git a/install/pre-install-payload/Dockerfile b/install/pre-install-payload/Dockerfile
index b5560d05..401f3058 100644
--- a/install/pre-install-payload/Dockerfile
+++ b/install/pre-install-payload/Dockerfile
@@ -78,12 +78,12 @@ RUN mkdir -p ${NODE_DESTINATION}/bin && \
 FROM base as kubectl-binary-downloader
 
 ARG ARCH
-ARG KUBECTL_VERSION=v1.26.0
+ARG KUBECTL_VERSION=v1.30.1
 
 RUN \
 	apk --no-cache add curl && \
-	curl -fL --progress-bar -o /usr/bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBECTL_VERSION}/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl && \
-	chmod +x /usr/bin/kubectl
+	curl -fL --progress-bar https://dl.k8s.io/${KUBECTL_VERSION}/kubernetes-client-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz | \
+	tar -C /usr/bin/ -x -z --strip-components 3
 
 #### Final image
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e/ansible/group_vars/all b/tests/e2e/ansible/group_vars/all
index c53d87d6..3a786520 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ansible/group_vars/all
+++ b/tests/e2e/ansible/group_vars/all
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ kubeadm_pkgs:
   centos:
     - conntrack
     - socat
-k8s_version: v1.24.0
+k8s_version: v1.30.1
 test_pkgs:
   ubuntu:
     - jq
diff --git a/tests/e2e/ansible/install_containerd.yaml b/tests/e2e/ansible/install_containerd.yaml
index 5ea9ee1b..1cbfcae4 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ansible/install_containerd.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/ansible/install_containerd.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     - name: Re-create containerd config
       shell: |
         mkdir -p /etc/containerd/
-        containerd config default > /etc/containerd/config.toml
+        containerd config default | sed -e 's/\(SystemdCgroup =\).*/\1 true/g' | tee /etc/containerd/config.toml
       args:
         executable: /bin/bash
     - name: Restart containerd service
diff --git a/tests/e2e/ansible/install_kubeadm.yaml b/tests/e2e/ansible/install_kubeadm.yaml
index b8dca6e8..e0e4975e 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ansible/install_kubeadm.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/ansible/install_kubeadm.yaml
@@ -10,16 +10,15 @@
   become: yes
   vars:
     cni_home: "/opt/cni"
-    cni_version: "v1.1.1"
+    cni_version: "v1.5.1"
     flannel_home: "/opt/flannel"
-    flannel_version: "v0.19.1"
+    flannel_version: "v0.25.6"
     kubeadm_cri_runtime_socket: "/run/containerd/containerd.sock"
     kubeadm_conf_dir: "/etc/kubeadm"
     kubelet_bin: "/usr/local/bin/kubelet"
     kubelet_service_dir: "/etc/systemd/system/kubelet.service.d"
     kubelet_service_file: "/etc/systemd/system/kubelet.service"
-    # Use 'cgroupfs' with containerd, 'systemd' with crio?
-    kubelet_cgroup_driver: "cgroupfs"
+    kubelet_cgroup_driver: "systemd"
   tasks:
     - name: Install kubeadm required packages
       package:
@@ -53,17 +52,23 @@
         creates: /usr/local/bin/crictl
         dest: /usr/local/bin
         remote_src: yes
-    - name: Install kube binaries
+    - name: Download kube binaries
       get_url:
-        url: https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/{{ k8s_version }}/bin/linux/{{ target_arch  }}/{{ item }}
-        dest: /usr/local/bin
-        mode: '+x'
+        url: https://dl.k8s.io/{{ k8s_version }}/kubernetes-node-linux-{{ target_arch  }}.tar.gz
+        dest: /tmp/kubernetes-node-linux.tar.gz
       retries: 3
       delay: 10
-      with_items:
-        - kubeadm
-        - kubelet
-        - kubectl
+    - name: Unpack kube binaries
+      unarchive:
+        src: /tmp/kubernetes-node-linux.tar.gz
+        dest: /tmp/
+        remote_src: yes
+    - name: Copy kube binaries
+      ansible.builtin.copy:
+        src: /tmp/kubernetes/node/bin/
+        dest: /usr/local/bin/
+        remote_src: yes
+        mode: preserve
     - name: Remove zram-generator-defaults in Fedora
       ansible.builtin.yum:
         name: zram-generator-defaults
@@ -162,6 +167,9 @@
             - kubeadm
             - kubectl
             - kubelet
+            - kube-log-runner
+            - kubectl-convert
+            - kube-proxy
         - name: Uninstall cni
           file:
             path: "{{ cni_home }}"
diff --git a/tests/e2e/ansible/templates/kubeadm.conf.j2 b/tests/e2e/ansible/templates/kubeadm.conf.j2
index e91dafed..e506c57f 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ansible/templates/kubeadm.conf.j2
+++ b/tests/e2e/ansible/templates/kubeadm.conf.j2
@@ -1,15 +1,6 @@
 # Copied and modified from https://github.com/kata-containers/tests/blob/main/integration/kubernetes/kubeadm/config.yaml
 #
 apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta3
-kind: InitConfiguration
-nodeRegistration:
-  criSocket: unix://{{ kubeadm_cri_runtime_socket }}
-  imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
-  kubeletExtraArgs:
-    allowed-unsafe-sysctls: kernel.msg*,kernel.shm.*,net.*
-    v: "4"
----
-apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta3
 kind: ClusterConfiguration
 kubernetesVersion: {{ k8s_version }}
 networking:
@@ -17,19 +8,12 @@ networking:
   podSubnet: 10.244.0.0/16
   serviceSubnet: 10.96.0.0/12
 apiServer:
-  extraArgs:
-    feature-gates: PodOverhead=true
   timeoutForControlPlane: 4m0s
-imageRepository: k8s.gcr.io
-scheduler:
-  extraArgs:
-    feature-gates: PodOverhead=true
+imageRepository: registry.k8s.io
 ---
 apiVersion: kubelet.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
 kind: KubeletConfiguration
 cgroupDriver: {{ kubelet_cgroup_driver }}
-featureGates:
-  PodOverhead: true
 systemReserved:
   cpu: 500m
   memory: 256Mi
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cluster/up.sh b/tests/e2e/cluster/up.sh
index e6cc4d74..35d4a1f6 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/cluster/up.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/cluster/up.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ main() {
 	# Untaint the node so that pods can be scheduled on it.
 	for role in master control-plane; do
 		kubectl taint nodes "$SAFE_HOST_NAME" \
-			"node-role.kubernetes.io/$role:NoSchedule-"
+			"node-role.kubernetes.io/$role:NoSchedule-" || true
 	done
 
 	kubectl label node "$SAFE_HOST_NAME" node.kubernetes.io/worker=